So, affiliate marketing…quite a minefield, especially for those starting out and all the “golden oldies” get mentioned, such as Warrior+, JVZOO and perhaps ClickBank.
Affiliate marketing IS a great way to make passive income, but promoters beware.
Whilst there are some great products to promote, a massive percentage is actually…garbage. And to the affiliate marketer, it can be difficult to sift the wheat from the chaff, especially if you are a newbie.
One thing you will quickly see is that many vendors use the same sales landing page and hype for virtually all of their products…products that they are able to create in just weeks…ask yourself, and if you are a shiny object collector take note, just how valuable is that product, does it really do what it says on the tin…should I buy/promote the next push button product that looks similar but has the word “A.I” tagged into it?
Let’s be honest here, AI is a fascinating utility and will hopefully help us all out here in the online world…BUT, vendors across Warrior+ and JVZoo have been working on rehashing the same old same old products but rebranding that it has an AI facet….hmmm…the Gold Rush is on and the focus of their hype is mainly to get you on their list….and getting you on their list is NOT a bad thing, providing they are an ethical vendor….yup there are a few dubious characters out there peeps…like anywhere.
Clickbank – a more robust set-up and a great range of products and services to promote, plus, once signed up, you do not need to wait for approval to start promoting.
I have had success with all 3 mentioned, but over the years become disenchanted with Warrior+ and JVZoo to some degree…this isn’t a Red Flag for anyone starting out, but more of a Yellow Card (beware)…you need to find the good guys and gals and build a small list of vendors that YOU know, like and trust and therefore you will be affiliate marketing to your audience in an ethical manner.
Being in this online money-making game for several decades, I know you wouldn’t think I was that old when you look at my avatar would you lol…I literally have just 5 or 6 vendors that produce products in the places mentioned that a) I know, like and trust the person because I have taken time to connect with them b) I am happy to both buy and stand behind their products.
This is me, we are all different…and I am sure you are thinking…”What about the Insurance Broker”?
So, when I was 16 years old, I left home and went out into the world full of excitement and expectation…I got a job with an Insurance Broker and at “sweet” sixteen I went out and did the collections, did customer service (over the phone or in person….we are talking pre-computers/mobiles)..and got paid an hourly rate, not big money, but at sixteen money is goooood.
Anyway, a couple of times when going out on my rounds, the owner asked me to increase the rate of cover that certain customers were on….not thinking too deeply on it, I went about doing as he’d asked.
The customers I met and spoke to about increasing their cover, where people purely scrapped a living, increasing their cover would drive them under…and when you see it in people’s eyes…well, I guess it depends on what type of person you are….leave that thought with you.
So, a few did indeed increase their monthly payments and the owner was really happy with that, ha why wouldn’t he be?
One evening, on returning from my rounds, he called me into the office.
He spoke about how he was going blind, which I knew of, and that in a couple of years, he probably wouldn’t be able to do the business anymore…alarm bells rang for me, but…he said that he really liked the way I worked and even though I was such a young age, he wanted me to take on the business in a year or so before he could no longer cope and by then I would be 18 years old and be able to work as a partnership and profit share….
What did I do?
Sixteen years old and the opportunity to be a partner in a well-established Insurance broker…
I turned him down…
Why?
Looks like even at that age I had a level of ethics about me, and the system of upselling insurance people did not actually need, well it just didn’t sit well.
I left the business not long after, of my own accord.
And that peeps is my take on the world…sell by all means, but dig deeper into what the product or service is and the person or people behind it…are you promoting something that adds value to people’s lives and is it sustainable, not something that will need replacing in a few weeks for the latest, greatest version.
Also, look further than just the mentioned affiliate companies, do some research….think about the niche you want to work in and get good ole Google to find you an affiliate program or programs around that niche…be a people watcher and inbox watcher….sounds odd, but basically, you will see trends in what certain people do and create…plus you will get generic promo emails from “them”, their autoresponder and/or their virtual assistants.
Also, consider other forms of passive income for your blog/website…Adsense, CPA…these are add-on revenue sources that, providing you are pushing the traffic to your sites correctly, can give you residual income with very little set-up angst.
Wishing you all the best…I do like to ramble on, but make no apology hahaha
